Frame type quadranted shelter



oct. 17, 1961 A. M. MOODY 3,004,542

FRAME TYPE QUADRANTED SHELTER Filed oct. 1, 1959 wwgga' le INVENTOR ZZGI?, M Moody ATTORNEY United States The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a shelter for use in protecting the personnel and the delicate instruments, wiring, fittings, etc., used in connection with certain modernday missiles which are fired from a vertical position on a pad or the like. A primary object of the invention resides in the construction of a lightweight shelter of the type just mentioned which may be readily erected and/or taken down with minimum manpower and without the use of any special tools.

A further object of the invention consists in the provision of a lightweight shelter which may be fabricated at `minimum cost and yet which will provide adequate protection from cold and the weather for all essential parts of the missile.

Another object of the invention consists in the provision of a shelter formed of a plurality of substantially identical quadranted sections combined with means for releasably locking them together in operative position.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of a sectional shelter, one section of which is provided with a supplemental section or penthouse for protecting certain parts of the missile.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the completed quadranted shelter;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the assembled frame without the canvas covering;

FIG. 3 is a fragmented plan Vview showing the uncovered parts of the frame about' to be assembled and clamped together;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail inside View showing the manner of clamping two of the arch members of adjacent quadrants;

lFIG. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4 and showing the latch bolt in both locked and unlocked position; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevational View of the frame with the quadrant carrying the penthouse being slightly separated from the other parts of the frame.

In the drawings, where for the purpose of illustration is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designates the frame generally and the numeral 11 indicates the quadrant carrying the penthouse 12, while the numeral 13 indicates the frames of the other three quadrants. The canvas coverings for the four quadrants are indicated by the numeral 14.

As the three quadrants 13 are identical in structure and contour, only one of them need be described. Each of the quadrants 13 comprises four arches 15 spaced apart to form three panels 16 and the upper ends of the four arches are connected together by an arcuate member 17, while the lower ends are connected by an arcuate member 18, all of these parts being formed of lightweight metal and the arcuate members combining to form upper and lower rings for the frame. The upper arent ice tical legs 22. This frame member 12 is provided with purlins or braces 23 for suitably spacing and reinforcing the leg members 21 and 22.

The canvas coverings 14 are secured to the two outer arch members of each quadrant by means of rings 24 which are snapped about the hollow arch members and provided with offset keeper loops 25 which extend inwardly of the tent frame as indicated in FIG. 5. Also, as clearly indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the edges of the canvas coverings are wrapped around three sides of the arch and provided wtih eyelets or openings 26 reinforced by grommets 27 and a plurality of these rings and keeper loops 25 are spaced longitudinally of each of the outer arches. The eyelets 26, after being vpassed over the keeper loops 25 are locked into position by means of ilexible tongues 28 which are secured to the coverings 14 in any suitable manner as by rivets 29 and are suficiently long to permit them to be inserted through the keeper loops 25 after the latter have been received in the eyelets 26.

The canvas covering 14 for the quadrant member 11 carrying the penthouse 12 is substantially the same as the other quadrant coverings except that it is provided with an extrance opening adjacent the bottom thereof which may be closed by a cover 30 and an opening 31 adjacent the top thereof which communicates with the interior of the penthouse frame 12. This latter frame may be covered by a canvas boot or the like 32 as generally indicated in FIG. l.

The quadrant frames are detachably secured together by means of latch bolts 40 which are swivelly connected at one end to one arch and releasably connected to the adjacent arch member by means of thumb nuts. It will be understood that there will be a plurality of these bolt'latches mounted along the length of the adjacent arches of the four quadrants. Each bolt latch 40 has a bent end 41 which is received in an opening 42 formed in an inner portion 43 of a plate 44 which may be riveted to the side of its arch by rivets 45. The bent end or gooseneck 41 of the latch 40 is provided with an enlargement 46 which prevents its removal through the opening 42 of its anchoring plate 44. Thus, the bolt 40 is swivelly connected to its -arch member k15 and may be swung into the inoperative dotted-line position shown in FIG. 6 or to its operative full-line position in the same figure. In this latter position, the bolt 40 is received in an open notch 47 formed in the upper edge of a plate 4S which is riveted to the side of the adjacent arch member 15 as indicated by the numeral 49. The free end of the bolt 46 is provided with a wing nut 50 by means of which the bolt may be secured in its operative position within the notch 47 after the quadrant members are brought together to form the complete shelter as indicated in FIGS. l and 2.

As heretofore mentioned and as shown in the drawings, the arch members are hollow and formed of lightweight metal so that each of the quadrants, including its canvas covering, may be manually carried to and Ifrom the assembling area as shown in the drawings and may be readily and securely locked in position about the missile A (FIG. l). In this arrangement, the lower portion of the missile, as well as the persons working thereon, will be fully sheltered from the weather, and the door 30 provides for ready access to the interior of the shelter. The penthouse portion 32, which serves as a shelter for the fuel connections of the missile, may be entered from the interior ofthe shelter .by way of,opening, 31 in the covering 14 of. the quadrant 1,1.

In .accordance with the patent statutes, I have de-V scribed what I now consider to be `the preferred -form of the invention, but since various minor structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is intended that all such changes be included within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

-1. A generally circular lightweight shelter for a vertically disposed missile comprising four quadrant-shaped frame sections, each including an upperl and a lower generally arc-shaped horizontal frame member adapted to conjointly combine to form upper and lower rings, arched vertical frame members connecting the respective upper and lower arc-shaped members, a canvas covering for each of said sections, and means for releasably securing said sections together `about the base of Y said missile with said upper `arc-shaped frame members closely encompassing said missile.

2. A shelter of sectionalized construction cooperable with the base of a vertically disposed missile to enclose a predetermined area surrounding the said base comprising a plurality of substantially duplicate sections each'including a frame and a covering skin draped upon and secured to said frame, said frames each including rigid lateral members xedlyvspaced from each other by rigid tranverse members to form a unit of suiiicient rigidity to be self sustaining when propped against the lbase of a missile or the like and readily releasable means to connect the opposed lateral Aframe members in adjacent sections together When the said sections are propped against said missile in operative relation thereto and to each other, that transverse 'frame member in each of thesaid 4, with the base of ya vertically disposed -missile to enclose a predetermined area surrounding the said base comprising a plurality of substantially duplicate sections each including a'frame and a covering skin `draped upon `and secured to said frame, said rameseach including rigid lateral members iixedly spaced from each other by rigid transverse members to form a-unit of Vsutlicient rigidity to be self-sustaining when properaagainst the base of a missile or the like and readily releasable means to connect the opposed lateralrame members 1 in Yadjacent sections together when the said vsections are propped against said missile in operative relation thereto and to each other, that transverse frame member in each of the said propped sections whichis located uppermost conforming in cont tour to the contour of a portion of the base of said fmissile so as to cooperate therewith in inhibiting accidental displacemento the said proppedsections and so as to cooperate when al1 of said sections are disposed in assembled connected together relation completely and closely to encompass the said missile so that the latter assists in stabilizing the shelter thus formed in the manner of the center pole of -a tent. n

7. A generally circular lightweight shelter for a vertically disposed missile comprising a plurality of substantially duplicate vertically and `horizontally arched sections each including a frame anda covering skin on said frame, means forreleasably connecting adjacent sections together so as to-form a closed shelter around the base of said missile, the upper end of which closely encompasses said propped sections which is located uppermost cooperating when said sections are disposed in assembled connected together relation completely and closely to Vencompass the said missile so that the latter assists in stabilizing the shelter thus formed in the manner of the center pole of a tent.

3. A shelter as defined in claim y2 wherein the said lateral frame members diverge laterally and outwardly from the uppermost of said transverse frame members so that. the base of said shelter is appreciably larger in peripheral outline than the base of the missile.

4. A shelter as defined in claim 2 wherein the frame members are arched so that the shelter formed by the connected-together sections is roughly semispherical in shape to provide space between the base of said missile and said shelter -for access by maintenance of operating personnel.

5. A shelter as defined in claim 2 wherein the covering skin is of canvas or similar exible material and is draped over said frame and secured thereto by wrapping the lateral edges thereof around the lateral frame members in a section and releasably securing the same thereto.

6. A shelter of sectionalized construction cooperable missile, the covering skin Von one of the lsections of said shelter having an opening therin at a position to locate the Vsame adjacent the side ofsaid missile when the said section is disposed in operative relation to said missile, a supplemental frame mounted on the said one section at the :said opening therein to project upwardly of the side of said missile closely :adjacent thereto, said frame encompassing a space large enough to admit maintenance personnel and acovering skin to cover all sides of said supplemental frame except that facing said missileso that maintenance personnel in the shelter space encompassed by said supplemental frame are protected from the weather and yet have access to said missile.

References Cited in the tile of, this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 240,868 Watersfet al. May 3, 1881 922,122 Frazier May 18, 1909 1,546,192 Berg July 14, 1925 ,2,230,454 Friesner etal. Feb- 4, 1941 2,266,854 Davis Dec. 23, 1941 2,302,650 Anderson et al -Nov. 17, 1942 2,587,698 Corn Mar. 4,' 1952 2,690,185 Pomykala ..Y. Sept. 28, 1954 2,804,951 Kolt Sept. 3 1957 2,895,717 DeFalco July 2l, 1959 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Science, vol. 174, No. 3, March 1959, page 95.-

UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE Y CERTIFICATE oF CORRECTIQN Patent No.`3,oo4,542 october 17,` 1961 Allen- Nl. Moody appears in the above numbered pat- It is hereby certified that error aid Letters Patent should read as ent requiring correction and that the s corrected below.

Column 3, line 54, for of read or wg column 4, line 8, for "proper" read propped line 3l, for "-therin" read therein Signed and sealed this 10th day of April 1962.,-v

( S EA L) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER lDAVID L. LADD Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

